Never Too Late: The Philosopher's Stone
by carlgirl375
Summary: *Set in OOTP* Harry is slowly sinking into depression following the tragic events of the Triwizard Tournament when suddenly he is thrown into the task of reading about his life with his family and friends. With the secrets and horrors of his past being revealed will anyone be able to convince Harry that it is never too late?
1. The Start of Something New

**Hi Guys! This is my first attempt at writing a story so I know that it won't be perfect but I've done my best and I hope that you enjoy! :D  
Oh and just a warning….Harry will probably be a little OOC during the story  
And finally as much as I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter **

******4 Privet Drive******

Harry sat in his tiny, cramped, and cluttered up room at number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging as he stared out at the open air as a bird flew past so free, so unlike him. He sighed as he stood up and wandered over to his bed, but not before he noticed a bit of paper under his tattered old trainers. He bent down and picked up the letter that he had received several days ago off of his Godfather, the notorious mass murderer, Sirius Black, and the man who had purposely been ignoring him the entire summer along with his other supposed friends.  
_Some friends _He thought to himself with a snort, _what kind of friends can't even be bothered to write a half decent letter?  
_He shook his head to avoid the thoughts of them, after all if he didn't think about them then he couldn't miss them or feel the pain of betrayal…it was entirely logical!  
Harry stared at the letter for a few moments battling his inner emotions and thoughts before he swiftly ripped it in half before throwing the shreds of paper, which were the only remains of the letter, into the bin.  
The young wizard lay down on his uncomfortable bed, his head resting on the flat pillow before he sighed and resisted the urge to fall into a deep sleep where the horrors of his nightmares awaited him. He knew exactly what he would see as soon as he closed his eyes for a few moments, he would see that terrible, horrible night that he had witnessed just a few short weeks ago. He would see the boy he had learned to see as a friend die at the hands of his parents betrayer and murderer, he would see those haunting moments as the darkest wizard of all time returned, he would see it all.  
Half an hour later, Harry found that he couldn't keep his eyes open, after all he had only slept for an hour the night before, before he had awoke in a sweat and a panic. Eventually he gave in to his bodies needs and fell into a fitful sleep, with no knowledge of just what was occurring a matter of miles away.

*****12 Grimmauld Place*****

Sirius Black sat at the grand table in the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place, his less than wonderful childhood home. Of course at the moment he didn't care about that, well not really, not when he had much more important things to think of. He sighed as his thoughts once again wandered to his Godson who was currently being forced to stay in a home that he hated, of course Sirius could relate to that. He stared down at the piece of parchment in front of him as he once again lowered his quill in frustration, trying desperately to think of something that he could say, anything…well anything Dumbledore would allow him to write!  
To say that Sirius was annoyed with the headmaster of Hogwarts would be the understatement of the century, his was seething! After all what gave the old fool the right to decide what was best for HIS Godson, he had no right at all!  
Sirius hadn't spoken to Harry since the night that he had left on Dumbledore's orders to collect the members of the Order and to head to Remus', but he had tried to get as much information about him from Dumbledore, which wasn't much. Although, the odd time that Remus did cover duty and watch over Harry, he would inform Sirius of whatever he could concerning his Godson. What he had been told so far only managed to make him worry even more, never mind the fact that it was driving him insane hearing about Harry rather than seeing him. He sighed as he shook his head and reached for a bottle of the strong yet somewhat comforting fire whisky.

"You okay?" Sirius looked up to find the concerned eyes of his only remaining friend as he nodded quickly.

"Of course I am, Moony. Why wouldn't I be?" He said with a large grin on his face before he took another swig. Remus watched him for a moment with a deep frown on his worn and scared face, before he took the seat next to him.

"Sirius, I know being back here isn't exactly ideal…" Remus started somewhat cautiously, but he was quickly cut off by Sirius.

"I really don't care about that at the minute, Remus." He told him as he turned to look into the face that was old beyond its years.

"Then what is it?" He asked before realisation dawned on him and he nodded in understanding. "Harry."

"Of course Harry." Sirius groaned "I'm worried about him, Remus. He hasn't replied to the letter that I sent him…not that I can blame him of course. There wasn't exactly anything useful in it was there?"

"That wasn't your fault. You know we can't tell him much and once we see him he will understand. He will." He repeated trying to convince myself, even though he knew that if Harry was anything like the boy he had met he wouldn't let it go.

"I can't do this!" he exclaimed in frustration as he slammed his fists down on the table "I cannot just sit here talking and chatting and laughing when he is…" He couldn't bring himself to finish as he thought of what an awful Godfather he had proved to be so far.

"Sirius, Harry is going to be fine. He's Harry Potter, James and Lily's son, yeah?" He said with a slight chuckle as he remembered exactly what two of his closest friends had been like.

"Do you really believe that?" Sirius asked him, looking him directly in the eyes. "The last time you saw him did he look like he was okay?" Remus sighed as he stared at the table, unwilling to admit the truth. "Exactly"

"Look, Dumbledore is supposed to be coming over later…so we can talk to him. We can get Harry out of there, we will, and he will be fine."

"I can't believe I let it get this far. I never should have left that night, I shouldn't have done the mission, I should have just done my duty and stayed with him." Sirius moaned as he covered his face with his hands. Sirius opened his mouth to attempt to comfort his friend, even though he was aware of just how much of a difficult task that would be, when suddenly the door burst open. Sirius lifted his head to stare at the bushy haired and freckly teenagers who had just rushed into the kitchen.

"Ron? Hermione? Are you alright?" Remus asked with a frown as he stared at his two former students with concern.

"We…we were talking,…and…." Hermione panted trying to catch her breath after she had practically sprinted down several flights of stairs. Sirius and Remus glanced at each before they turned to look at her again "we…we….found this." They suddenly noticed the large box that Ron was carrying which he dropped suddenly on the floor rubbing his painful and red hands.

Sirius knelt down on the ground, before he cautiously shifted the lid, all the while Remus stood with his wand pointed directly at it prepared to take on whatever was in the box. Sirius placed the lid on the ground as he carefully placed his hand in and pulled out… a book. He frowned at it in confusment before he looked up at Remus who shrugged his shoulders.

"A book?" Sirius said, completely dumbfounded. "Why…" Before he could finish his eyes widened in both shock and terror as he made out the title which was neatly printed in fine writing on the cover. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, both of them completely aware of exactly what the Philosopher's Stone was as they remembered their adventurous first year a Hogwarts.

"There's more." Sirius said as he reached deep into the book and pulled out six more books all of which clearly showed Harry's name followed by various titles. "But why? I mean what are they?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Said Hermione "They're books about his life. Harry's life. Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of fire…they're all key events of his first four years at Hogwarts." Realisation dawned on their faces as they stared down at the books….she was right.

"But what about these ones?" Ron said gesturing to the other three books "Unless…they're things that haven't happened yet? They're things that will happen."

"So what, we read them?" Sirius said with his eyebrows raised "I somehow doubt Harry would approve of that."

"Well they were obviously sent for a reason!" Hermione exclaimed in frustration "Think of what they can do, they can change the future, they can save the world!"

"And the first four?" Sirius asked "How exactly will they help?"

"Well…" Hermione started as Sirius watched her carefully, gesturing for her to continue "They could help you know Harry, really know him, understand him in a way that you've always wanted to but have never been able to."

Sirius stared at her with a thoughtful look on his face, he was right. He could. He could get to know Harry, all of those years when he wasn't there, when he had wondered what had happened to him…he could know it all. But then what about when Harry found out? What would he do?

Before Sirius had the chance to dwell on his Godson's reaction to the extremely private books concerning his past, present, and future the door slammed shut. His attention quickly turned to it as Remus rushed over and tried desperately to open it. What was going on? Why couldn't they get out?

"It's bolted!" Remus exclaimed in frustration as he threw his entire body weight against it in an attempt to break it open.

"Wait!" Ron exclaimed as he held a letter which he had found tucked into the bottom of the old, wooden box. "Look what was in the box! According to this we can only get out once we've read all of the books…well that's that out of our hands."

Just as Hermione opened her mouth to point out that they would likely have read them anyways, there was sudden flash of electrocuting blue light, as they all covered shielded their eyes from its blinding rays. Sirius winced as he brought his hand down at frowned and the end of the room where the light had come from…but what was it? He shook his head in confusment as he slowly walked forwards to where it had vanished to a mere moment ago. Before it happened again! Only this time stronger and bigger than before as a loud crashing noise echoed around the room as though an explosion was being let off.

A teenage boy came rushing out of the light as though pushed before he fell right into Sirius' arms as a messy black head raised to meet the eyes of his Godfather.

"Harry?" Sirius asked in shock and horror as he stared at the spot where the light was fading before looking back into the pale and tired face of his Godson. He quickly looked him over for bruises or marks or cuts or anything that he could have got from that strange light. "Are you okay? What was that!"

"Sirius?" Harry asked in a quiet and confused voice as he stared into grey eyes. "Where am I?"

"It's okay, you're at 12 Grimmauld Place. It's my house." He explained quickly in his shock. Barely ten minutes ago he had been worrying about when he would see Harry and yet there he was in his arms. "But never mind that, what happened?"

"I don't know I was just sleeping and then I woke up…that's weird." He frowned as he looked behind him at the place he had appeared before it dawned on him that he was in a room with three people who had ignored him…Hermione and Ron were both staring at him cautiously almost afraid of his reaction at seeing them, while Sirius was too distracted with worry. "Professor?" Harry asked astounded.

"Please, Harry, I am no longer your Professor, it's just Remus." His ex-professor said kindly to him as he watched him nervously, having apparently also noticed the pale condition that the boy was in.

"Okay…Remus." He said hardly believing that after more than a year his favourite teacher and one of his father's best friends was in the room with him. "But you…" He turned around in fury to Sirius, but not before glaring at Hermione and Ron who stared guiltily at the ground. "I trusted you Sirius!" He yelled at his Godfather who flinched with ashamedness. "After everything I still trusted you! I thought you would at least write me a half decent letter! Do you have any idea what I have been through in the last month! Do you!"

"Harry, listen…" Sirius started softly in an attempt to calm his Godson.

"No! How could you! All of those times you've always moaned about never being there and the one time I need you….the one time you aren't there! I have been through more than any of you two have!" He screamed as he turned to face Harry and Ron "I'VE TOOK ON MORE THAN TWO HAVE TOGETHER AND YOU KNOW! TROLLS, AND THREE HEADED DOGS, AND BASALISKS AND VOLDEMORT GOD KNOWS HOW MANY TIMES! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! WHO WAS IT WHO WENT THROUGH THAT BLOODY TOURNEMENT LAST YEAR? ME! I'M THE ONE WHO SAW CEDRIC DIE AND I SAW VOLDEMORT COME BACK AND YOU STILL LEFT ME! ALL OF YOU!" by the time Harry had finished his rant Hermione was in tears, Ron was staring at the floor looking more guilty than ever before while Sirius was as pale as a ghost. Harry took a deep breath as he felt his eyes well up with water as he stared at the ceiling before collapsing onto a chair, his head falling forward limply onto the table as his body shook with sobs that he had kept in for such a long time.

Ron and Hermione stared at each other neither knowing quite what to do as they attempted to deal with their guilt. Remus nodded at Sirius as he watched Harry sadly barely able to believe the changes in the lively thirteen year old he had met a mere two years ago. Sirius walked towards Harry his heart breaking as he took the sight of him in, as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry?" Sirius asked quietly, before he bit his lip and glanced at Remus again, before he kneeled in front of his Godson. He gently cupped his face so that he was looking into the tear filled green eyes. "Listen to me, nothing I can say will ever make up for what I did, but you have to believe me when I say that I am sorry. I am so, so sorry." He whispered as he gently stroked his cheek with his thumb. He felt his heart break even more as Harry stopped sobbing, although tears were still pouring down his usually calm and strong face. "Come here." Before he knew he had pulled Harry into a loving and warm hug as Harry sank into the floor beside him, clinging onto his Godfather for dear life.  
"It's okay." Sirius whispered gently "It's okay, you're okay, I'm right here, you're okay, I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Remus stared down at the two as he smiled gently at the heart-breaking yet warming sight that Godfather and Godson made. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione who stood close to each other, Hermione resting her head on Ron's shoulder as he awkwardly patted her head.

After what felt like hours but in reality was probably only ten minutes, Harry pulled away as he looked sheepishly at Sirius, completely humiliated by his breakdown.

"I'm sorry." Harry muttered sheepishly "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." Sirius told him gently as he smiled softly " We all need a good cry now and again, you should see me…Remus doesn't know what to do half of the term, do you old man?"

"Old man!" Remus exclaimed in mock offence "Charmed I'm sure."

Harry smiled briefly before he turned back to stare at the wall. "Why am I here?" He asked as he noticed the occupants of the room glancing nervously at each other. "What?"

"We found these books, Harry." Ron started nervously, as though afraid that he would start yelling at him again "They're about you…your life."

"What are you on about?" He asked with a frown of bewilderment "That's impossible."

"You'd think so wouldn't you?" Said Sirius as he gently helped him stand up. "The thing is..." he took a deep breath before he broke the news waiting for the outbreak "We have to read them."

"What!" Harry exclaimed "No! No way!" Sirius sighed, he knew that this was exactly how he would react, heck it was exactly how anybody would act!

"Harry we have to." Remus told him "We have no choice"

"No choice? Really? How did you work that one out!" He yelled as he resisted the urge to punch the wall. They didn't understand! It wasn't their life that they were about to read, it wasn't their secrets that would be revealed! It wasn't their life that was put together in chapters in a book as though it was that simple!

"Because the door is bolted." Remus replied calmly "The door is locked and the only way we can get out is if we read these books. Look, I know it's hardly ideal" He said as he ignored the look on Harry's face "But think of the lives that we can save, Voldemort could be defeated in a matter of days, all we have to do is read."

Harry frowned as silence took over the room. Remus was right; of course he was right, if he chose not to read those books who would he be killing? What other secrets and horrors lay before him? He couldn't be responsible for somebody dying…not someone else…not after Cedric…

"Okay." Harry said in a quiet and defeated voice as they all stared at him in amazement.

"Really?" Hermione asked in a shocked voice, taken by surprise that he had actually agreed.

"Sure." He said with a shrug "Just…promise me something? All of you. Promise me that whatever we read you don't judge me or anyone else?"

"Harry, we would never…" Sirius started to explain before Harry stared at him sternly.

"Just promise me…please…"

"I promise." He agreed as the others nodded confirming that they too would not go against his wishes.

"And nobody is punished for anything that may have happened in the past?" Again they all nodded. "Right." He took a deep breath as he looked around the kitchen, it wasn't going to be the most comfortable of places. But no sooner had he thought that, that the door opened allowing them to walk into the comfortable living room, when a thought suddenly came to him as he attempted to open the door. It wouldn't budge, not that he had expected to of course, but you can't blame him for trying.

A few minutes later they were all sat comfortable on the seats the box by the side of the room as Remus gently picked up the first book in the series.

"Any volunteers?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Ron and Hermione who were both sitting on a sofa opposite to the one which Harry and Sirius were sitting on.

"Okay." Hermione said as he smiled appreciatively at her as he passed her the book which she cautiously opened.

"**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone…"** She read as Remus took his place on the sofa next to Harry. "**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived…" **

**So there's the first chapter if you enjoyed it feel free to leave a chapter or ask any questions or requests or anything else you can think of…  
Thanks for reading! :D **


	2. The Boy Who Lived

**A/N: Hi Here's Chapter 2. Sorry for the long wait but had a very busy last few months. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and let me know if you have any suggestions or thoughts or if just enjoyed it. : ) **

**As usual Harry Potter belongs to J. **

**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You're welcome" Sirius said dryly as he rolled his eyes, honestly did he have to read about those boring muggles on the first page. It was just cruel.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. **

"They really are a nightmare aren't they" Sirius whispered to Remus who chuckled as he rolled his eyes at Sirius. Sirius smiled back, although the expression of happiness soon vanished as he caught sight of his Godson's expression. Harry was staring at the book miserably, his expression blank as Hermione read the words from the pages of his life.

"You okay, Harry?" Sirius asked him with concern in his voice, not forgetting his Godson's outburst. He nodded in reply but still didn't say anything, remaining silent rather than voicing his emotions, his fear and nervousness, his sadness and pain.

Sirius and Remus both shared concerned glances which Harry either didn't notice or chose to ignore.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings,**

"What's Grunnings?" Ron asked with a frown.

Remus, Sirius, and Hermione remained silent neither of them having the first clue what Grunnings actually was, and secretly hoping that Harry might pull himself out of his stae for a moment to simply talk or show some sort of reaction.

"It's a company that makes drills" Harry explained quietly after a few moments as he stared at the floor before he lifted his head to look at the others. "Uncle Vernon's worked there for years."

"Oh, right." Said Ron as he nodded as though he understood exactly what Harry had said, although to be honest he wasn't entirely sure what a drill was, which was evident to the group as Sirius and Remus chuckled at him and Hermione rolled her eyes.

. **which made drills**.

"Told you so" Harry said with a slight smile.

"Watch it, mate, you might end up sounding like Hermione" Ron chuckled before he winced as Hermione hit his arm with the book. "Hey!"

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, **

"Sounds like real lookers they do." Sirius commented as he nudged Remus in the ribs as Sirius smirked at him.

"You're right, almost as good looking as you, Padfoot." Remus chuckled as Sirius glared at him in mocking.

"Hey! I'll have you know I had the ladies chasing me constantly back when I was in school, and you know it."

"I think you'll find it was the other way around." Remus replied as Sirius looked away in insult before chuckling at his friend.

**which came in useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"Definitely the Petunia I remember then, the woman hasn't changed in the slightest." Sirius snorted in disgust.

"You know her?" Harry asked him shocked as he looked his Godfather in the eyes for the first time since they had started reading the books.

"Yeah." Sirius replied "Well sort of, she was at your parents wedding when they married. Her and that whale of a husband of hers. Disgusting people."

"Quite." Harry replied quietly as he turned back to watch the book frowning as he did so, he knew the relationship between his mother and his aunt had never been good but he thought that that was it. Plain and simple. But now it was as though there was so much more to it, Sirius had just about confessed that hadn't he?

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley**

Harry tensed slightly as he stared at the book "I wouldn't call him small." Harry mumbled, having only meant to think that rather than say it out loud.

"Big is he?" Sirius asked Harry casually.

"You could say that." Harry muttered.

"So you two good friends eh? Bet you are growing up together, mind you me and my brother couldn't stand each other…" Sirius babbled on as Harry turned to him in shock.

"You have a brother?" He asked curiously, changing the conversation away from Harry's relationship with his cousin.

"Had." Sirius corrected him. "He died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Harry said quickly, too quickly for Remus' liking who had been the only one to notice, it was almost as if he was programmed to say it.

"Don't be, he was asking for it." Sirius mumbled as Harry stared at him.

"Why?" He asked quietly.

"He just was…" Sirius replied trying to get away from the subject, as Hermione chose the moment to hurry on with the reading before Harry could question his Godfather even further.

**and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"Of course there isn't." Harry said bitterly, the Dursley's worshiped Dudley, treated him like a king and wouldn't dare ever look down on him. Whereas he, Harry, was the complete opposite in their eyes, something to be treated as a slave and a burden.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.** **They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years;**

"The Potters?" Sirius snarled through clenched teeth "The Potters!" He roared at the book in fury. "They do have a name you know!"

"Sirius, calm down." Remus harshly told him as he noticed Harry flinch slightly before he covered his reaction with a mask, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Calm down! Calm down, Remus!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes, calm down." He replied through clenched teeth as he discreetly gestured to Harry. Sirius took in Harry's nervous posture as he forced himself to calm down slightly, not taking his eyes off of his Godson for a single moment.

**in fact , Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister and her good-for-nothing husband**

"James was not good-for-nothing." Sirius growled, clenchings his fists together in his lap, turning his knuckles white.

"And there was nothing wrong with Lily. You should have been grateful to have her as a sister" Remus told the book, his calm expression gone as he attempted to control his anger.

"What was she like?" Harry asked them as he stared at the ground. "My Mum?"

Sirius and Remus took a moment to comprehend the fact that Harry really did know nothing at all about his parents other than what others had told him. And what was that? That he was the spitting image of his father, except from his mother's eyes.

"She was wonderful." Remus said softly after a few moments as he glanced over at Sirius who was staring sadly at the ground, to Ron and Hermione who were sitting closely together watching the three on the couch, to Harry who was watching him desperately waiting for an answer. "She really was, your father loved her so much. She was extremely kind, one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing…" He trailed off as memories of his years before everything went wrong flashed before him. "And she loved you." He finished as Harry watching him, a small smile on his face, obviously trying to fight against the overwhelming emotions which were consuming him.

Silence filled the room as everyone thought of the two lives that had been lost that terrible, tragic, Halloween night.

"Maybe a bit too much." Harry whispered after a few moments as everyone quickly turned to look at him.

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked him with a frown on his face as Harry looked up for a moment before shrugging and plastering a grin on his face.

"Nothing. Let's just read." And before either Remus or Sirius could question him further Hermione started reading, although they mentally agreed to discuss it later.

**were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"Too right they are." Sirius said with a proud smile.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This Boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"The boy?" Sirius said blankly "The boy! He does have a name you know!"

"If you think Harry's bad merlin knows what your son is." Ron exclaimed with disgust as he remembered his first encounter with Dudley Dursley just before their fourth year.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, **

"A story." Harry laughed as everyone turned to stare at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Wow well after all that, that's all I am a story. Something to be read about and talked about!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry, that's not true." Sirius reassured him as he gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Isn't it?" He questioned his Godfather.

"No it isn't." Sirius insisted. "It is so much more, you are so much more"

"Well it certainly doesn't feel like it, I mean, how different would the world be without me. Think about it! Mum and Dad would be alive, you wouldn't have gone to Azkaban…"He stared listing of before Sirius cut him off.

"That wasn't your fault. None of it was." Sirius reassured him gently as he took his small hand in his.

"How can you say that? How can you sit there and look me in the eyes and not hate me?" Harry asked him as he looked his Godfather in the eye.

"Because I know that it wasn't your fault." He told him as he gently stroked his finger across his hand. "And do you know what? I don't care about Azkaban, or any of that. I care about you Harry. Okay?"

Harry stayed silent for a few moments before he eventually nodded his head in acceptance as Sirius wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.

**there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"Boring tie for a boring man" Said Ron with disgust as he thought of the man who had supposedly raised his best friend.

"Oh, I don't know. He's not exactly boring..." Harry said as he thought of the years of pain and misery that he had suffered at his hands, if that man had been boring he would never have done half the things that he had done.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"I was never like that as a baby." Sirius pointed out as Remus raised his eyebrows at him "I wasn't!" He insisted. " I was an innocent little baby...well as innocent as you can be with my bag of a mother to put up with."

"You've never been innocent." Remus chuckled as Hermione and Ron smiled, but Harry simply frowned.

"You weren't close to your mother?" He questioned his Godfather whose attention quickly turned to him.

"Well that's the understatement of the century." Sirius replied "but no…she was…well we didn't exactly see eye to eye, let's put it like that."

"Why was that?" Harry asked curiously, before his face flushed "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's fine." Sirius assured him with a grim but gentle smile. "My family, my entire family supported the dark side, and Voldemort, they worshiped him. Nobody can ever be as ashamed as I am when it comes to my family."

"Try me." Harry replied with a small smile as Sirius stared down at him, the curiosity of what Harry's life had really been like rushing back, although he decided not to pursue the matter further.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. **

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek,**

"Eugh!" Sirius exclaimed in disgust "That is just gross!"

**and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing cereal at the walls. **

"How can a child behave that badly?" Remus wondered out loud in disgust as he tried to imagine what could make a child act that awfully.

"It's Dudley. He does everything badly." Harry said with a slight chuckle.

**"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. **

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

"Well if it isn't out lovely Minnie." Sirius laughed, a large grin on his face as Remus shook his head in amusement.

"That poor woman, worst day of her life when you walked into her classroom." Remus chuckled as Sirius pouted in mocking pain.

"How dare you! You wound me, Moony. That woman loves me."

"Loathes you more like." Remus muttered as Harry watched the two bickering almost as badly as Ron and Hermione did. Had they always been like that? He wondered to himself, but they had only been reunited less than two years ago on that dreadful night in the shrieking shack. They had embraced like brothers, they had been so happy to see each other, all because both of them had had the most terrible lives. Of course, there was one person that it all came down to…him. He had been born, which for some reason had made Voldemort go after them. As far as Harry could see he was the reason his parents had died that night, the reason Sirius had been sent to Azkaban, the reason Remus had spent twelve whole years of his entire life isolated and lonely.

"HARRY!" The yell pulled him away from his thoughts as he turned to look into the concerned eyes of his Godfather.

"What?" He asked as he noticed everybody was staring at him.

"I've been trying to get your attention for ages." Sirius said with a frown of worry on his tired face "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am, I just zoned out is all." He said quickly before beckoning for them to continue reading.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen -then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. **

"Wow…he's clever." Said Ron in fake shock "That's amazing!" He gasped as Hermione rolled her eyes at him before they continued to read.

**What could he have been thinking of? It must have a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the car. Its stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, **_**looking**_** at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs. **

_"_Minnie can" Sirius sang happily, partly in an attempt to cheer his Godson up who he was becoming increasingly worried for.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **

"He really does have the most tragic life ever." Ron said "How can someone be so pathetic!"

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people!**

"Young people? Well you wear funny clothes Remus and you aren't young, I don't know what he's talking about." Sirius chuckled as Remus shot him an amused glare.

"At least I don't look as bad as you, Sirius. I think you will find that if you look in the mirror you'll find that you look funnier than I do."

"Of course I do. I'm young." Sirius grinned.

"You keep telling yourself that, Padfoot."

**He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

" A cloak!" Sirius exclaimed "Well how very dare he!" Sirius chuckled as Harry smiled at his Godfather in amusement.

**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something...yes, that would be it. **

"Collecting?" Ron asked with a frown "What would they be collecting?"

"They collect for charity." Hermione explained patiently, sometimes she forgot that wizards knew so little of muggle customs and how they lived their lives.

"Charity?" Ron said "What like SPEW or something?"

"It's not SPEW!" Hermione exclaimed "It's S.P.E.W…."

"What's Spew?" Remus asked curiously as Hermione opened her mouth to tell him all about the organisation which she had created the year before.

"Oh, please, don't get her started" Ron pleaded with Remus as Harry chuckled quietly to himself and Hermione huffed before continuing to read

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; **

"Oh, honestly, they're not very careful are they?" Hermione said. "What if the muggles had all noticed and realised that there was something odd about it."

"They probably wouldn't believe it." Remus told her "They would find some sort of explanation for it."

**they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

"Shouting? He gets set off easily." Sirius snorted as Harry silently couldn't agree more, his uncle wasn't exactly the most caring of people, in fact when it came down to it he was more of a monster than anything.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, **

"That is a good mood?" Sirius asked with a laugh but Remus' attention had caught on Harry.

"Does he get angry often, Harry?" Remus questioned the fifteen year old beside him.

"Not always. Hardly ever really" Harry lied, but he knew that Remus didn't believe him for a second.

**when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. **

"He's threatened." Remus said slowly as understanding dawned on him. "He's threatened by people who have power, by witches and wizards, and…magic." He trailed off as his eyes found Harry.

"Well lots of people feel threatened at times don't they?" Harry said with a nervous chuckle as he tried to get away from the subject, and avoid having his darkest secret coming out.

"People do stupid things when they feel threatened." Remus nodded in agreement as he watched the teenager carefully, who was making eye contact with Ron and Hermione who were both watching him, both looking nervous. Hermione took this opportunity to hurry on with the reading.

**This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

**"-yes, their son, Harry-"**

"And so it begins." Harry sighed in frustration as he subconsciously rubbed his scar, already hating the books.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whispers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. **

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,**

"He has a secretary?" Sirius said with a snort. "How did an idiot like that manage to get a job that important?"

"He may be an idiot but he knows how to push a person out of the way" Harry said quietly refusing to look anywhere but at the book.

**and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking...no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry**

A tense silence overtook the room as Sirius swallowed and clenched his teeth hardly daring to ask the question that he already knew the answer to.

"He didn't know your name?" He asked his Godson as he unsuccessfully attempted to seem calm.

"Well he does now." Harry defended…he was sure he did…I mean sure he hardly ever got called by it but that didn't mean he didn't know…right?

"Well why the hell didn't he know then!" Sirius exclaimed as Remus sighed next to him, fighting off his own frustration and dislike of the man who had the nerve to call himself Harry's uncle.

"Calm down, Sirius." Remus warned him as he silently gestured to Harry who was starting to look uncomfortable.

Harry wasn't the only one looking uncomfortable though, Ron didn't know where to look and Hermione appeared as though she wanted to say something but was silenced by a sharp glance from Harry.

**He had never even seen the boy. **

"Not that Lily didn't try." Remus said sadly "She tried many times, she wanted Petunia to have a relationship with you."

"Although why exactly I never understood." Sirius said bitterly "They were complete opposites."

**It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if **_**he'd**_** had a sister like that...**

"A sister like what?" Sirius growled in a deadly voice, but he knew exactly what the book meant….a magical sister. Petunia was always horrible to Lily because of her magic, she would tease her and make her miserable, but if she treated her own sister like that how would she treat her nephew?

Sirius looked down at Harry who was being unusually quiet compared to his usual self.

"You okay?" Sirius whispered to him so as not to draw attention to him, knowing that that was the last thing that Harry would want. Harry nodded silently as he stared at the floor before looking up and putting on his usual smile.

"I'm fine."

Sirius didn't believe him for a second, he was many things but an idiot wasn't one of them….well not most of the time anyways.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry, " he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

"Did he actually just apologise" Ron said in a shocked voice.

"Well it's the least he can do." Hermione pointed out to him.

"Yeah but this is Dursley the biggest pain in the ass ever." Ron replied as though it was obvious.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him but allowed a tiny smile to appear on her face as Harry smiled and Sirius and Remus chuckled.

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, **

"What never heard a mouse before." Ron said.

"There's a difference between a man and a mouse" Hermione replied.

"Yeah, but still…" Ron trailed off.

**"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" **

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

"Not everybody felt like celebrating" Sirius mumbled as Remus nodded in understanding.

"It was the worst day of my life" Remus said grimly. "Lily and James were dead, Peter was supposed to have been murdered and you'd been shipped off to Azkaban, and Harry…" He trailed off as he looked at Harry who lifted his head to look at him after a moment of noticing the attention on him.

"Mine too." Sirius admitted. "You don't know what it was like…it was like the world had ended, like I would never be happy again, like there was just no point to anything anymore."

Harry watched the two men sadly thinking of just what they must have been through, sure he had lost his parents, and been carted off to people who couldn't stand him and treated him as nothing more than vermin, but Sirius and Remus had really lived it. He had barely even been able to talk, yet he somehow doubted that they would agree with his view on it.

There was silence for a few moments as Sirius and Remus privately remembered that day all those years ago, and Harry contemplated the misery that it had brought.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"Seriously!" Ron exclaimed as Sirius opened his mouth before he promptly shut it after a light slap on the arm by Remus.

"Don't even think about it!" He warned him.

"What?" Sirius asked innocently.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. **

"Aw good old Minnie." Sirius chuckled.

"I wouldn't let her hear you calling her that if I were you." Remus warned him as Sirius grinned.

"Aw but she loves it."

"Of course she does." Remus rolled his eyes as the trio watched them.

"Who's Minnie?" Hermione asked them curiously.

"Wait a minute…" Ron said as he caught on "It's McGonagall isn't it?"

"Yep that's her." Sirius laughed as Ron laughed with him amused by the name which he vowed to call his professor by the next time he saw her… or when he got the guts.

**It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. **

Not a single member of the group could prevent themselves from laughing at this, not even Harry who had been occupied by his own thoughts of his parents.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together , he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. **

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley learned a new word (Won't). **

"She always was a nosey coot" Sirius scoffed "Shouldn't know she wouldn't have changed."

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!"**

"Subtle aren't they." Hermione commented lightly.

"I think everyone was a bit preoccupied by their own happiness." Remus replied. "Besides no real harm came out of it….luckily."

**"Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." **

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"That B…" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sirius!" Remus cut him off sharply as Ron chuckled.

"What! I was going to call her a bat." Sirius replied as Remus glared at him.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news, " Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls...shooting stars...and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"**_**So?**_**" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought...maybe...it was something to do with...you know...**_**her **_**crowd." **

"Her crowd!" Remus exclaimed as Sirius called her countless names under his breath.

"Don't let it get to you." Harry told them which quickly caught their attention. "Really."

"How can we not?" Sirius said "Harry she is a nightmare and…."

"I know." Harry cut him off sharply trying to keep his annoyance under control. "I do live with her you know."

"She's always been like this then? To you?" Sirius asked quietly after a few moments as Harry tried to find the words that would stop his Godfather and Remus suspecting something.

"She's like it to everybody" Harry admitted "She doesn't exactly keep her feelings about things which are abnormal a secret."

"Abnormal!" Sirius exclaimed in fury as Harry sighed before he went back to look at Hermione to continue pulling his legs up to his chest as he did so.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so, said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me." **

"It's a beautiful name" Sirius snapped at the book feeling on edge.

Harry went red at Sirius` comment, but his uncle was right there wasn't anything special about his name, just like there wasn't anything special about him.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom. Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did...if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it. **

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake,**

"Surprised he doesn't squish her." Sirius mumbled.

**turning it all over in his mind. He last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were**_** involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...**

"Only because Petunia made a point of telling her every chance she got" Remus said with frustration, if there was ever a couple that he could never stand, that he had disliked instantly, it was the Dursley's.

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect **_**them**_**...**

**How very wrong he was.**

"I wish he hadn't been." Harry mumbled, he would have given anything for a life without the Dursley's, even living with Snape would have been better and that was saying something

**Mr. Dursley might have been into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact , it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all. **

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. **

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. **

"Sounds like Dumbledore's arrived." Ron said grimly as he shared a look with Hermione both of them having an idea of the events that he had set into motion that night.

**His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. **

"The one and only" Ron said lightly in an attempt to soften the atmosphere which was becoming more and more tense by the second.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"He probably realised, but just didn't care." Remus commented.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

"Woah." Ron gasped in awe "That is bloody awesome."

Hermione smiled slightly at him as Harry chuckled. _Typical Ron. _

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. **

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses, exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes.**

"Sounds like she hasn't changed that much." Ron said "Neither does Dumbledore for that matter."

**She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. **

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"I don't think I've seen a human sit as stiffly as old Minnie does let alone a cat" Sirius pointed out.

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right, " she said impatiently. **

**"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls...shooting stars...Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"Harsh Minnie" Sirius chuckled lightly in attempt to cheer Harry up who was starting to look miserable as it dawned on him just how close he was getting to not only his parents death, but facing his life with the Dursley's.

**"You can't blame them, " said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years. **

"Do you think it will be that bad this time?" Harry asked quietly as the two adults in the room turned to him before glancing at Ron and Hermione who were watching almost as hooked as Harry was to knowing the answer.

"Probably." Remus admitted after a few moments. "But…we're better off this time, we're well informed, we know he's back."

"Exactly last time we barely even knew what we were dealing with, besides we've done it once before, we'll fight him again." Sirius told them in an attempt to cheer them up.

"You really think we'll win?" Ron asked what Hermione and Harry were both silently wondering.

Sirius contemplated what to say for a few moments before he replied "I think we stand a good chance."

"It's only just starting though isn't it?" Harry whispered almost to himself. "He's already killed…" harry trailed off silently thinking about Cedric, the boy he had so often felt jealous of in that last year, it all seemed so stupid now.

Sirius watched Harry as the haunted look. which he had so often seen stare right back at him from his own eyes, settle in his expression. Before he gently slipped his own hand into Harry's before he rubbed it gently, Harry thought about pulling away for a few moments but decided against it as Sirius offered him a warm and loving smile.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." **

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-know Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggle found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has**_** gone, Dumbledore?"**

"No." Harry quietly muttered, not even having realised that he had said it and not only thought it. "But why?" Harry frowned.

The other occupants of the room thought for a few moments, just why hadn't Voldemort died yet? He was hit with the killing curse, a curse so strong that practically made the entire house collapse, he had vanished, and yet he was back, alive and stronger than ever…but how?

**"It certainly seems so, " said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A **_**what**_**?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"He's a bit strange, Dumbledore, isn't he." Ron said as Hermione, Sirius and Harry chuckled while Remus shook his head fondly despite the seriousness of the events taking place in the book.

**"No, thank you, " said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

"Of course it wasn't." Harry said "When is it when he offers them."

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort.**_**" Professor McGonagall flinched,**

Ron and Hermione both flinched at the mention of the name as Harry rolled his eyes.

"Honestly when are you two going to get over that?"

**but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemorts's name.**

**"I know you haven't" said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know-oh, all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Only because you have the decency not to use them." Harry pointed out quietly.

**"Only because you're too - well- **_**noble**_** to use them."**

Harry smiled silently to himself.

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Eugh! Terrible mental image!" Sirius moaned as he covered his eyes with his hands as Remus rolled his own eyes at his friend's theatrics.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors**_** that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

The atmosphere which had been happy and somewhat peaceful a moment ago suddenly ceased as Hermione stopped short.

"Yep." Harry said quietly. "That was me…apparently."

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. **

**"What they're **_**saying,**_**" she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow."**

Remus took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the last few pages of this chapter which would discuss the reality that he had faced many years ago, and would be forced to face yet again.

He glanced over at Sirius who looked nowhere near ready to deal with reading this, and suddenly Remus realised that it had never dawned on him that Sirius hadn't been around to deal with the aftermath like he had, who was to say that he had ever really took the time to face it.

His attention then found Harry's which was somewhat the most shocking, he didn't seem affected at all hardly, as though this had nothing to do with him when in fact it was everything to do with him, this was after all his parents that they were discussing.

**"He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are-are-that they're-**_**dead**_**."**

Remus instantly placed a hand on Sirius` shoulder as the man attempted to cover his emotions, tears in his eyes. Sirius reached up his hand and placed it over Remus` for a moment as his other one went to pull Harry close to him.

"You okay, Sirius?" Harry asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, don't you worry about me." Sirius replied as he gently ruffled his hair.

"Tough." Harry replied gently as Sirius smiled slightly at the fifteen year old beside him.

"Besides it's you and Remus I need to worry about." Sirius told him as Remus smiled at him letting him know that he was okay.

"Why would you have to worry about me?" Harry asked somewhat confused. "This is about you two."

"But they were your parents…" Sirius trailed off as he placed his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked him over.

"I know, but you knew them, you both lived a life with them…me…I can't even remember them…" Harry tried to explain but the two men weren't having any of it.

"If anything that's worse, Harry." Sirius told him seriously, hardly believing that his Godson felt that meant so little.

"How?"

"We got years with them, so many memories, you can't even remember them, all you have is what other people tell you and the thoughts of what could have been." Remus told him gently as Harry turned to look him seeing the worry and sadness in his eyes before looking back at Sirius again.

"I still don't see the difference. I might as well have not been there, I just…don't see it."

"I know." Sirius whispered gently, his heart breaking slightly "But one day you will, I promise."

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **

**"Lily and James...I can't believe...I didn't want to believe it...Oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know...I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

"It wasn't me though was it? Not really. It was all Mum." Harry said voicing his thoughts on that terrible night out loud.

"In many ways it was your mother." Remus agreed with a nod, his brow creased in thought. "But you were the one who had the power; it was you who his curse bounced off."

Harry didn't say anything, just continued thinking of the power that he was supposed to have, that so many believed that he had.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly. **

**"It's - it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done...all the people he's killed...he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding...of all the things to stop him...but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"I don't know." Sirius admitted…nobody knew. "I'm just glad that you did, I lost your parents that night, Harry, we all did…" He trailed off taking a moment to compose himself as memories of that night flashed in front of his own eyes as if no time had passed at all. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you too…even if it did take twelve years to get back to you."

Harry simply stared at his Godfather lost for words, not knowing what to say or do before a rough hand gently ran through his out of control hair.

**"We can only guess, " said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. **

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"You mean Hagrid found my parents? He was there with…with their…." Harry couldn't finish the sentence the thought of his parents as nothing more but still lifeless people finding its way into his mind.

"Well…me and Hagrid." Sirius reminded Harry. "That was just before I went after Peter."

Harry nodded simply not knowing what else to do.

"I should have been there with you." Remus softly told Sirius. "You shouldn't have been alone."

"You couldn't have known." Sirius reminded him "We were all over the place back then."

Remus silently agreed, nobody had known who to trust, the only person they thought that they could trust was the one that betrayed them.

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"They're not even that." Harry scoffed as he battled to keep his own emotions at bay he had already practically broken down, he refused to do it again.

"You don't need them, mate." Ron told him as Hermione nodded in agreement.

"He's right." Sirius told him as he gently placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. "You have us now."

Harry suddenly became extremely interested in the floor smiling slightly. They were right, that was his new family now, Hermione and Ron and the rest of the Weasley's, and Sirius, and even Remus by the way the books were going.

**"You don't mean - you **_**can't **_**mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I 've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!" **

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly.**

Harry laughed, he couldn't help it, simply the fact that Dumbledore thought that the Dursley's was the best place for him, merlin knows what Dumbledore would call the worst place for him.

"Harry?" Remus asked somewhat nervously as he shared a look with Sirius, who was worrying for his Godson's sanity for a moment.

"Sorry." Harry said after a moment realising just insane he must have looked to everyone. "Just the Dursley's aren't exactly a dream come true." _That's the_ _understatement of the century. _

**"His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter." Sirius repeated dumbly before the fury and anger quickly set in. "A letter!" he exclaimed "Are you insane Albus! You cannot explain something like that with a letter! What the hell are they going to tell him!"

Harry remained silent hardly daring to point out that the Dursley's hadn't even told him anything, not one thing, if anything they twisted the truth and lied through their teeth to him for an entire decade.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future -"**

"Oh, God." Harry panicked as he brought his face up to see the book.

"Don't worry, there isn't." Remus reassured him quickly, a small smile appearing on his face.

**"there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. **

"I suppose I can see his thinking for that." Remus said as a thought quickly occurred to Harry, Remus! He had been alive, he hadn't been arrested…so why could he not have cared for him? Unless he just didn't want to. Was the thought of raising him really that repulsive to the man?

**"Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember!"**

"Not that anybody pays attention to that." Harry mumbled.

"It must be difficult." Remus said already knowing fine well how difficult it must make things for Harry.

"Of course it is." Harry replied, putting his thoughts of the man aside for the moment. "Still, it teaches you to be careful, to know who you can and can't trust, who are your friends and who are just…fans." He finished lamely.

Ron blushed remembering when he had first met Harry in his first year, the only reason he had wanted to meet him was because he could barely believe that the boy he had grown up hearing stories of was right in front of his eyes. Yet it had quickly turned into more than that, he genuinely cared for Harry, he knew he wasn't just a trophy or something to be goggled at, he was Harry. His best friend.

**"Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?" **

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here. Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. **

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life any day." Harry admitted quietly. "Sure he makes mistakes, but he's a good man with a big heart."

"That's true." Sirius said as Remus nodded, both men had many memories of Hagrid from their school days and the war, and afterwards on Remus` part.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore**

"Great minds think alike" Hermione smiled.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place, " said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. **

"There's my baby." Sirius grinned, "Aw how I miss my old bike."

Harry raised his eyebrows at Sirius as Remus rolled his eyes, he never would shut up about that bike.

"It's yours?" Ron asked him curiously.

"Yeah. Had it for years, it was my entire world, my most prized possession." Sirius said with a fond grin.

"And yet you gave it to Hagrid?" Harry asked him curiously. Sirius smile faded slightly.

"Yeah. Hagrid took you, on Dumbledore's orders of course." Sirius told him.

"Didn't you want me?" Harry hated how quiet and pathetic that came out as being, but Sirius obviously didn't find it pathetic.

"Oh, Harry." Sirius sighed "Of course I wanted you, you were my whole world, you still are…but….I was in no state to fight Hagrid. I should have taken you and ran, go into hiding if I had to, but I was so angry. I was screwed up, I didn't know what to think. I've never regret anything more than I have going after Pettigrew. "

"It's okay." Harry told him quickly. "You don't have to explain."

"Words could never explain what you mean to me, you know that right?" Harry nodded staring at the ground, of course he didn't believe him in the slightest, he was just Harry. That was all. He was hardly anything.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_** - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. **

**In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"That's my little baby boy" Sirius cooed fondly as Harry blushed slightly.

"Sirius! I'm fifteen!" Harry wined as the others smiled at them.

"You're still a cute little baby." Sirius cooed as he ran his hands through Harry's hair.

"Shut up." Harry mumbled as the others laughed at them.

**"Hagrid, " said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Awww lil` baby fell asleep" Sirius cooed as Harry glared at him, before a small smile slipped on his face.

Sirius was relieved to see Harry smile, he wasn't prepared for reading about Lily and James death, and merlin knows Harry would have to recall the hell that he went through with Voldemort at some point, so he was doing everything in his power to make Harry happy. He could deal with his emotions on the books later, his Godson came first.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall. **

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it Dumbledore?"**

"I wish." Harry muttered as he rubbed the scar again. "I hate this damn scar!"

"Hey." Sirius whispered as he took Harry's small hand and lowered it back into his lap. "Don't think about it."

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground."**

"Strange, strange man" Ron whistled.

**"Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

A strange feeling came over Harry, it was as though he was slowly making his way to the gallows, step by step he was getting nearer and nearer to his terrible fate.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. **

"I would have given anything to raise you, you know?" Sirius told Harry gently, noticing that he seemed to be tense yet appeared so sad.

"It's too late, though, isn't it?" Harry said sadly, of course he didn't blame Sirius, he could never blame him, but what's done is done, and there was no point in pretending otherwise.

"It's never too late." Sirius replied. Harry wasn't so sure.

**He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blanket, and then came back to the other two.**

"He left you on a doorstep!" Remus exclaimed. "It was practically Novemmber, it would have been freezing cold…anything could have happened to you, someone could have taken you, or you could have gotten ill, or…"

"Whoa! Remus, I'm fine." Harry reassured him _Well as fine as I could be._

"It was stupid though" Sirius said. "The man's supposed to be a professor, surely he knows how to take care of a child!"

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulder shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

There was silence in the room, everyone knowing just how serious and terrible a situation was when Dumbledore reacted like that.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah, " said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'd best get this bike away. G'night. Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lights so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. **

**One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on,"**

"And so it begins." Harry said bitterly as he shook his head with a sigh.

"What happened there, Harry?" Hermione asked him with a frown of concern on her face. "What really happened?"

"Nothing good." He replied without even thinking about it, forgetting for a moment that Sirius and Remus were both in the room with him and neither knew even the slightest bit of just how terrible the Dursley's were to him.

"What? What do you mean?" Sirius asked quickly his eyes snapping from Harry to Ron and Hermione and back to Harry. Harry nodded at Hermione as she kept on reading, Sirius opened his mouth, eager to find out what exactly the trio were keeping from him, when Remus shook his head in warning.

**not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley...He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!" **

"That's it." Hermione said quietly as she placed the book on the table beside her as she looked at Ron before looking at the others, Harry looking nervous as Remus and Sirius focused on him.

"So who wants to go next?" Ron asked in a move to break the tense silence.

"I will!" Harry said eagerly, at least if he read it if anything was mentioned he could simply skip it.

"I don't think so." Remus said quickly. "I will."

" I really don't mind…" Harry said desperately, but Remus had already reached for the book and knew that the fight was over. He would simply have to face what the books would reveal, and deal with it when the time came.


End file.
